Wingstop’s (WING) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Stephens

Stephens restated their overweight rating on shares of Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Stephens currently has a $468.00 target price on the restaurant operator’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Wingstop from $450.00 to $365.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $458.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Northcoast Research raised Wingstop from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lowered their price objective on Wingstop from $470.00 to $380.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Wingstop from $375.00 to $300.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $368.74.

Wingstop Stock Up 2.8 %

NASDAQ:WING opened at $292.06 on Thursday. Wingstop has a 52 week low of $241.78 and a 52 week high of $433.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $318.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $366.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 85.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.78.

Wingstop (NASDAQ:WING) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The restaurant operator reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $162.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $160.24 million. Wingstop had a net margin of 17.05% and a negative return on equity of 22.69%. The business’s revenue was up 38.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Wingstop will post 3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wingstop Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.37%. Wingstop’s payout ratio is 31.49%.

Wingstop declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, December 5th that authorizes the company to buyback $500.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the restaurant operator to buy up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Wingstop

In related news, SVP Raj Kapoor sold 266 shares of Wingstop stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.38, for a total value of $86,285.08. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 266 shares in the company, valued at $86,285.08. This trade represents a 50.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wingstop

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hollencrest Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of Wingstop during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Wingstop during the second quarter worth about $34,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Wingstop in the third quarter valued at about $36,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Wingstop by 60.6% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 106 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Wingstop by 384.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 126 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter.

About Wingstop

Wingstop Inc, together with its subsidiaries, franchises and operates restaurants under the Wingstop brand. Its restaurants offer classic wings, boneless wings, tenders, and hand-sauced-and-tossed in various flavors, as well as chicken sandwiches with fries and hand-cut carrots and celery that are cooked-to-order.